*Misspelling intentional
David Patchen is my hero. After 20 years in the corporate world, he took an introductory class in glass blowing and fell in love with the medium. Though he did return to his day job, he managed to cut back to part time so he could spend more time focusing on glass techniques. After 10 years of part-time work, he was able to leave the corporate world behind and pursue his passion full time.
The rest of his training was self-directed. He learned by watching other glass artists and then developing his own skills through trial and error. That’s exactly the kind of path that appeals to me, too. Then in 2004, Patchen met someone who put him in touch with renowned Italian glassblower Afro Celotto, who invited him to his studio in Murano.
“I had done a lot of Italian-style work, but I was struggling with the techniques. Afro was kind enough to allow me to visit his studio and hang out with his team. They didn’t speak English, but I learn well by watching and I saw him move efficiently and smoothly through all the things I was struggling with. That greatly improved my abilities in the hot shop.”
After his Italy experience, Patchen started incorporating cane glass elements in the Murano style into his work while still retaining the modern, organic feel of his earlier pieces. As you can see, the results are spectacular.
All images property of David Patchen.
January 9, 2017 at 11:20 am
Beautiful work, and I love the story about how Afro Celotto invited him to come “study” in Italy. He is quite an unselfish artist ❤
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January 9, 2017 at 12:18 pm
Isn’t that lovely? His generosity really struck me, too.
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January 9, 2017 at 4:15 pm
Wow! Spectacular pieces. I can’t decide if my favourites are those tubby vases that look like Sea invertebrates or the spheres. I guess I’ll just take both.
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January 9, 2017 at 4:41 pm
The black and gold is the one for me. So clean and lovely!
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January 9, 2017 at 4:46 pm
I’m drawn to the peacock colored pieces. If there’s teal involved, I want it.
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January 9, 2017 at 5:32 pm
That’s my favorite color, too!
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January 9, 2017 at 4:19 pm
PS I loved what he had to say about team work. So many artistic fields are very solitary and can be isolating so it’s interesting to me that he so values the cooperative work with another.
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January 9, 2017 at 4:41 pm
I was really struck by that, too. It’s nice to know you can be an artist without having to be completely solitary.
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January 11, 2017 at 10:59 am
These are lovely! I am always amazed by glass blowing, my mind can’t wrap my head around how they create these amazing shapes from a blob.
Surviving your 20’s one Google search at a time: AdoraCollins.com
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January 11, 2017 at 11:22 am
It is pretty amazing what glass artists are able to do. It’s my plan when I retire to study glassmaking. Can’t wait!
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January 11, 2017 at 11:32 am
There is a nice studio in Wimberley: http://wgw.com/ My son took a class there when he was in high school. (He used to make hemp jewelry to sell to the local head shop and he learned to make glass beads from those glass sticks (?). Yes, we did give our teenaged son a blow torch so he could pursue his art…
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January 11, 2017 at 12:09 pm
I totally get that!
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